State employees' union doesn't like state's contract offer

The largest state government employee union is upset with the Blagojevich administration’s contract offer that the union says will result in a pay cut for its members.

Doug Finke

The largest state government employee union is upset with the Blagojevich administration’s contract offer that the union says will result in a pay cut for its members.

The offer doesn’t meet the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees’ idea of a contract that gives state employees “decent wages, health care they can afford and secure retirement,” AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall said Wednesday.

“The administration is seeking to shift significant new health-care increases on state employees and new pension costs and pay (increases) that wouldn’t keep pace,” Lindall said. “The end result would be a pay cut for state employees who in recent years have seen their ranks reduced sharply and their workloads increased at the same time.”

Lindall declined to offer further specifics, saying those details should be left up to negotiators. AFCME plans to set up informational pickets today to highlight the contract dispute that it says affects some 35,000 state employees.

Kelley Quinn, spokeswoman for Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s budget office, said the administration is continuing good-faith negotiations with the union on a new contract.

“While we understand their concerns, it would be irresponsible to negotiate their contract through the media,” Quinn said.

AFSCME has a four-year contract with the state that expires June 30. The two sides have been in contract talks since December.

The current contact gave AFSMCE members pay raises every six months starting in January 2005, depending on the following pension formulas:

As part of the previous deal, AFSCME members had to resume making payments to their pensions. Workers in the standard formula contribute 4 percent of their salaries to their pensions, while those in the alternative formula contribute 5.5 percent. The state picked up worker pension contributions starting in 1991 in lieu of granting a pay raise at the time.

Workers also had to pay more for monthly health insurance premiums and prescription drugs.

Doug Finke can be reached at (217) 788-1527 or doug.finke@sj-r.com.

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